New Bangkok Airport Info
 

There's just 5 days to go until the new Bangkok airport opens, so I thought I'd pay a visit and get the lay of the land. I'm not the only one who's curious; the place was close to packed with other tire-kickers.

I've tried to write down as much as I could about navigating your way around the new place in my journal, http://chiengfa.com

Thanks, Michael. Do you think it will open as planned on the 28th?

Thanks-we're flying into BKK in November. I hope the bugs are worked out by then.

<i>'Bugs' are not the only potential problem. The following article appears in the 9/24 Bangkok Post - www.bangkokpost.com/News/24Sep2006_news01.php</i>

<b>Ghostly encounters at Suvarnabhumi</b>

By Amornrat Mahitthirook

Airports of Thailand (AoT) organised its largest religious rite at the new Suvarnabhumi airport yesterday to ward off evil spirits, only to experience an encounter with the unexplained. Rumours of occasional ''ghostly sightings'' have gone around since the first foundation brick was laid at the airport many years ago. The AoT is determined to correct the growing perception that the airport is possibly harbouring some ''uninvited inhabitants'' and to put its staff members' minds at ease.

Yesterday's rite was presided over by 99 monks who chanted en masse to improve the luck of the new airport, set to open commercially on Thursday.

However, halfway through the rite, a man appeared, quivering, and began to speak in a commanding voice claiming to be ''Poo Ming'', a guardian spirit of the land partially developed into the airport.

He ordered that a proper spirit house be built at the airport to allow for its smooth operation. The man, who was unidentified, later passed out and woke up to find the spirit had left him.

AoT president Chotisak Asapaviriya said the ceremony helped to boost the morale of airport staff, some of whom were unnerved after learning of frequent car crashes on the road running parallel to the airport's eastern runway.

Some veiled figures have sometimes been spotted on the 6km-long road.

Somchai Sawasdeepon, the airport general manager, said he had heard ghost stories from staff who came across a woman dressed in a Thai-style costume at the airport construction site in the evening.

He said the airport land formerly belonged to some local communities encompassing the centuries-old Wat Nhong Prue and its cemetery. It was reported that the bodies had not been exhumed for proper religious cremation.

Sqn Ldr Panupong Nualthongyai, head of Suvarnabhumi airport security, was also a witness to some strange, unexplained episodes.

''Whatever you make of it, it is the belief associated with the Thai way of life. For the non-believer, it is best not to act disrespectfully [towards the supernatural],'' he said.

I thought every buidling in Thailand had a spirit house. If they don't have one, I want them to get one before I fly in...

Yikes Rizzuto, For sure a Spirit House will be installed.
Sue

thanks michael for the info...now for the real tests....usage....

any indication of where the limo pick-ups or desks will be??

michael, thanks for doing this by the way

bob

It's too late now to change the opening date. The new airport will open completely on the 28th. My first flight is on 4 October, so we'll see how it goes.

As to ghosts, I was shocked to hear when I first visited the site a few years ago that they had moved a temple before beginning construction. That's a real no-no in Thai culture. You can let a temple rot into the ground, but you absolutely can't tear one down. These days, spirit houses are often left until long after construction of the rest of the building is completed. The JW in Bangkok suffered from ghost stories for a couple of years until they got around to building theirs.

There are a bunch of not-quite-finished counters on level two outside baggage claim. Some of these are the limo counters for sure. You board limos on the 2nd floor (arrivals). That's why you have to go down to level one for a taxi. The airport wants you to take their taxi (limo) service, not a cheap public taxi.

BTW, someone else complained about the high price of the new airport hotel. PrecisionReservatins has a deluxe room for about $75 a night. That's way cheaper than I remember the old Amari airport hotel being, and I bet it's much nicer.

Michael, that really isn't a bad price. And I agree, it must be better than the old Amari - I hated that place!

Michael, that must be an introductory price. I checked some dates in Nov and it's $164 or $184. Prices are similar to the old Amari.

michael....how did you get out to the new airport and how long did it take you if you came from central bkk??

i received the following from AAC Limo about finding my car after arrival in bkk: &quot;please to turn right after cleared the Thai customs then look out to your name on signboard, any assist please contact our hotline phone 0-2391-8100...&quot;

btw. the charge from the new airport to the marriott resort and spa, with a 15 minute stop at the marriott, and then a ride onwards to the hyatt is 1350 B plus 65B for the tolls....one way...

btw, i bet the thing that makes the former PM the maddest about his overthrow is that he will not get to cut the ribbon on the new airport on its official opening day....i know he took the first flight and all but that doesn't count.....or on the other hand maybe he is glad he will not have to deal with any mess caused by the opening....??

The Novotel price is from Precision Reservations. They usually have a much cheaper price than the Accor (Novotel) site.

I drove myself there. I live not far off Rama IX, so I'm expecting to be able to get to the new airport a lot faster than it took me to get the new airport. From downtown, if you take the expressway and motorway all the way, It should take around 45 minutes, depending on how close you get to the 120 kph speed limit on the motorway.

I just got this from TAT: http://www.tatnews.org/tourism_news/3034.asp

Some nice pictures and good summary.

Michael, I got my Novotel price also from Precision reservations. All the November dates I check are in the $164-184 range. I was hopeful from your post that there might still be some reasonable prices for November. Apparently not.

I checked Precision for a room in mid Nov and it is $183.

Why they couldn't have just built an intransit airport hotel like the one in the Singapore airport I just don't understand. Just last month, I bought a 6-hour block, plus one additional hour of room time in the Singapore airport...I had a 10-hour layover(before flying on to Bangkok)...and I remember the 6-hour block cost me about US$35.00... plus a little extra for the extra hour....real cheap and incredibly convenient...woke up...went one floor down...and walked to the gate for the Bangkok flight. Happy Travels!

It is reported that the Louis’ Tavern Day Room (which operated rooms at the old airport) will open an 80 room place. It will be located inside the passenger hall on the third floor. Rates have not been announced yet but will probably be higher than they used to be. May or may not be ready when the new airport opens.

Yes, there is a transit hotel on concourse G.

November is high season so I guess the Novotel rates go up then like everybody else. It's amazing how far they jack up the rates now. I was looking at place in Phuket for another post, it shows $80 now but for a November stay it's $200+!

I'm leaving this Sunday and when I return I'll give my impressions of &quot;Suwannapoom&quot;.

Kurt

FYI, a taxi from the registered taxi stand will cost approx 300 baht to central Sukhumvit (306 baht to be exact to Sukhumvit 11).

191 Fee, 65 tollway fee, 50 airport surcharge.

I booked a Novatel room a couple of months ago not knowing how booked they could get and got a rate for a January one night stay of $160. Yikes, pretty expensive for about 6 hours. I will check out the Louis Tavern Day room thing and hope that's opened. I need something easy and stress free for my first Asian visit but for this quick layover this is way too expensive!

$160. for a Novatel...ridiculous...although I like Novatels and have stayed in them in other places in the world. Happy Travels!

Cookie...I sometimes have 6-hour type of layovers in Bangkok when I fly...L.A.-Bangkok and then have a layover and then fly down to Singapore and start my vacation there first... before ending it in Bangkok. I just go into the city and get a hotel. It's cheaper. Try the Chateau de Bangkok which is also an Accor Hotel like the Novatel. I've stayed there. There's also a Novatel right across from my apartment building which I think is the Novatel Lotus...I stare at it from my terrace so I should be able to remember it better. That's at around Sukumvit soi 33 area...which is the east part of Bangkok going in the direction of the new airport. Maybe the rates there will be lower...plus there are lots of low-cost hotels in Bangkok although January is a more expensive month. Or try the Davis hotel which is at the end of Sukumvit,soi 24 which is my area. They seem to have decent rates and lower than $160. Happy Travels!

I've seen Novotel Suvarnabhumi for USD 120 for October but shoots up in November

Just been watching on local TV and so far the move had started and going ok

james---clear off your driveway just in case they need to make an emergency landing....

Photos of BKK Don Muang Airport…Ahh Memories…

http://www.pantip.com/cafe/blueplane.../E4703993.html

http://www.pantip.com/cafe/blueplane.../E4693069.html

http://www.pantip.com/cafe/blueplane.../E4682065.html

Last scehduled flight out from Don Muang was Kuwait Airways A-340, it was great to see the 'send off' on TV ( stayed up late! ) and it was very much 'Bye Bye' to Don Muang as much as welcoming in Suvarnabhumi ( there was actaully a Qantas 747 take off after Kuwait Airways but I think that was a flight 'delay ' )

First 'official' arrival on official opening was a Lufthansa MD11 from Mumbai and Frankfurt, there were special placques for flight crew etc, seems everything went 'smooth as silk'.

Hey Guenmei, thanks but my &quot;concern&quot; is that I'm brand new at travel to this part of the world, will have come from Boston and really want to max out the time in my room rather than hassling with the taxis and time etc. Next trip I may be more comfortable. I will also be bringing alot of luggage (possibly) with medical supplies so the idea, despite the outrageous $$$ is to make life as simple as possible. I did email the grand hotel people for info on the Louis Tavern Day rooms but haven't heard from them yet.

Cookiew-have you contacted Bob (RhkKmk) about the get together we're having in Cambridge on October 7, 2006 ? Guenmai will be there in person.

Just took a return flight(domestic Bangkok to Ubon) from the new airport and everything went relatively smoothly. Some minor safety concern on the departure flight where the pilot felt it was unsafe to take off in heavy rain and disembark all the passenger until the rain lighten up. Departed on 26th Sep by Air Asia and return just now by Thai.

For those interested in travel time here's my report:

From curbside of the arrival area to the Rama 9 exit off the expressway it took 15 minutes, to the Sukhumvit exit about 22 minutes and to the Silom exit about 30 minutes. Driving speed about 120 kph.

Forgot to add that my flight arrive at 9.30 pm so the driving time was for evening hours. Another thing, expect a long walk inside the terminal!

cookview---for GTG info and good info on thailand contact me at:

[email protected]

bob

Cookie...since you're new to that part of the world...keep in mind that you don't have to hassle much with things. Thailand put the &quot;S&quot; in the word service. All you will have to do is collect your bags, put them on a wheeled cart, go through the passport area, and then roll the cart to the limo service. Then the cart will be taken over, your luggage will be put into the car,and you'll be driven off to your hotel. Then when you arrive at your hotel, you will not have to hassle with your luggage since one or two people will meet your car and take your luggage which will disappear somewhere until it's delivered to your room. Then the next day, you just call the reception and have some one sent to your room to pick up your luggae and then put it into a taxi and off to the airport you go. At the airport, the taxi driver will probably find you a luggage trolley...there were plenty of them outside the terminal at the old airport...and then will put your bags on it and off you go to stand in the check-in line at the airport. This is the way I've done it for nearly a decade of trips to Bangkok. The taxi driver,last month,drove me from my apartment building to the airport and did everything for me. And that wasn't even a limo service. Happy Travels!

Thanks, I'll keep the S word in mind for future trips. No, I won't be doing a GTG quite yet, I'm actually doing a GTG with the local people who are involved with the hospital in Siem Reap that I will be working with so I'll be getting a ton of info on Cambodia next week! Can't wait! I'm also hoping to hear someone mention what's going on with the Louis Day Tavern at the new Bangkok airport- anyone??

bangkokairportonline.com Happy Travels!

Thai airways now has some good info on the new airport on its website - www.thaiairways.com and follow the link to airport info or the banner at the top of the site for the airport. It covers arrivals, departures, transport to and from, maps etc- of course mainly in relation to the Thai counters.

Don't bother with their info on the Thai lounges as it still relates to the old airport - hope the new ones are better as promised.